Ota-Idiroko Road: Traffic Experts Proffer Solution To Incessant Crashes At Iju Bridge

Ota-Idiroko Road: Traffic Experts Proffer Solution To Incessant Crashes At Iju Bridge

In the last one month, the ever busy Ota–Idiroko road that serves as a connection route from Nigeria to neighbouring West African countries have the Iju Bridge which is one of the few bridges dotting the road stretch featured severally in the news for wrong reasons. 

No fewer than six crashes have occurred within the period of one month, raising concerns by road users who called for urgent intervention from the government to forestall such incidences that has claimed several lives, injured many and destroyed many valuable properties. 

The carnage from each of the accidents is always horrendous, said a resident living near the bridge. 

On Wednesday August 16, 2022, a tanker and plunged into the Iju River, the FRSC spokesperson in Ogun, Florence Okpe, said though no life was lost in the incident, it has a devastating effect on the bridge and affected traffic movement for several days.

On Wednesday September 7, no fewer than five persons died, while one was injured in a multiple accident on the bridge. The accident, involved a tanker laden with diesel; a Toyota Camry registered as FKJ 132 HE; a Volkswagen Golf car; a TVS tricycle marked KSF 822 QL and a motorcycle.

Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), confirmed the accident, saying the driver of the tanker with registration number, KTU 258 XT, suffered a brake failure, lost control and rammed into the affected vehicles before falling into a ditch.

According to Akinbiyi, 11 people – eight males and three females – were involved in the accident.

Consequently, the TRACE Corps Commander/CEO ‘Seni Ogunyemi has ordered 24hrs traffic control by TRACE Operatives on the axis where incessant accidents have been the order of the day the past two weeks. 

As a result of these accidents and many more not mentioned here, angry youths, residents of Iju-Ota and environs as at last week held a protest against the bad nature of the road which they claimed induced incessant accidents that continued to take lives of people almost on a daily basis. 

The protesters who carried different placards, some of which read “Fixed Our Roads Now” complained the road is to narrow coupled the fact the bridge is too narrow, and are asking for dualisation of the international road. 

A spokesman of the protesting youth, Sola Aderinto, said that they were blocking the expressway to express their grievances to both the state and federal government.

Aderinto said that many lives had been lost to many road crashes due to the bad state of the road, especially around the Iju Bridge, and stressed the need for the government to urgently expand the road.

“Many lives had been lost to numerous accidents and the only way we can call the attention of the government is by demonstrating and blocking the road.

Representing the Corps Commander/CEO, Ajibade pacified the protesters to allow free flow of Traffic, stating; “The TRACE authority is very much aware of the happenings here and has swung into preventive action to ensure proper traffic to avert future incidence and repetition of such. You can see our men controlling traffic and checking excessive speed of motorists which has been the major cause the accidents. 

Ajibade pleaded with motorists, especially truck drivers and trycycle operators, a.k.a. Marwa to stop reckless driving and unnecessary manuovering while on the wheel. He added that motorists should be conscious of high concentration of trucks due to centralization of industries on the axis. 

The Olota of Ota, Obalanlege, had earlier appealed to the protesting youth to remove the barricades and allow flow of traffic. 

The Kabiyesi said he had already discussed the problem of the road with the Minister of Works, Mr Raji Fashola, SAN, who promised the government would fix it. 

The youths were protesting and burning tyres on the road to show their frustration and anger, saying government representatives in Ota seem to be clueless, heartless and less concerned about lives being lost on the road on daily basis. 

Meanwhile, the state Police Command in Ogun, has advised the protesting youths to always report their grievances to appropriate authority rather than blocking the road.

The Police spokesperson in the state, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, gave the advice while to our Correspondent on the reacting on the issue. 

Oyeyemi noted that blocking the expressway would only compact or worst the problem of the motorists and residents around the axis.

“It is never the solution to the incessant cases of accidents happening on the road rather they should appeal to the appropriate authority to listen to their plights.

“Youths can simply appeal to the government that has something to do something on the road whether they would expand the roads rather than blocking the road to cause unnecessary hardships to those going for their lawful businesses.” he said.

When our correspondent contacted Alhaji Rasaq Shotayo, Chairman of Riders and Owners of Motorcycle (ROMO) in Ogun state and one of the stakeholders in the community, who said that residents of the community are always called to task each time there is a road mishap on the bridge, causing traffic congestions stampeding other road users. 

He also said that there is no alternative access from the road except on the bridge. 

He commended men of TRACE, FRSC and other agencies who always work round to ensure sanity returns to the road each time an accident occur on the bridge while also urging the Federal Ministry of Works to find a lasting solution to in order to prevent avoidable loss of lives.

“Recall the multiple vehicular accidents, on Thursday, bringing the total to about 30 lives lost with the one that occurred on the same spot, on Monday, which claimed five lives due to the bad portion and narrow state of the Iju bridge axis of Idiroko road. 

Business activities were crippled for major hours while the protest last until the intervention of Olota of Ota, Professor Adeyemi Obalanlege, who placated the angry youth before normalcy, was returned.

Speaking with one of the protesters, who simply identified himself as Seun, he lamented the loss of one of his friends who died in one of the recent crashes that occurred on the bridge. He said that his friend, was on his way back from work enroute Atan before a container ladened Truck lost control and rammed into the Tricycle which his friend was going home in.

He urged the Federal government to find a lasting solution to the road as the bridge portion had become a death haven and nightmare for motorists, especially, when it rains.

In another interview with Leke Adeyemi, one of commercial vehicle operators on the road, he said, “The exact portion has become something else as fear of the unknown envelopes them each time they drive through the road

He pleaded with the federal government to find a lasting solution to the bridge to avoid further loss of lives.

After an assessment excercise of the Iju Bridge carried out by a team of operatives from Traffic Enforcement aand Compliance Agency, TRACE, Ogun West Command to ascertain the causes of theincessant crashes near and on the bridge, they identified the following environmental factors to be responsible; 

It should be noted primarily that the bridge is narrow and no longer able to freely accommodate the high number of vehicular movements, involving both light and heavy duty trucks plying it day and night.

The government as a matter of urgency should expand the bridge or in the interim institute a Traffic control management that would alternate traffic flow per lane, so that the two traffic lanes would at no time converges on the bridge.

Secondly, the embankments on each side of the bridge have been completely removed from the various impacts suffered from past crashes, especially from heavy duty trucks. There’s therefore no barricade on the bridge to prevent vehicles falling off into the canal and flowing river below.

Temporary embankments should be reconstructed on the bridge to forestall the incessant falling off of vehicles to the canal below.

Another factor is a gaping pothole found immediately after the bridge inward Atan/Idiroko, narrowing the road at the mouth of the bridge. 

Vehicles inbound Atan trying to avoid the pothole are bound to swerve off their lane trying to avoid the pothole to the other lane of vehicles inbound Sango-Ota, attempts to avoid head-on collision with such Vehicles (inbound Atan) could lead them swerving away leading into the gaping canal below. The pothole should of a matter of necessity be filled up right now.

Furthermore, the roads leading to the bridge from both Atan and Sango-Ota end are sloppy, particularly the one from Atan is not only sloppy but sharply bent as it approaches the mouth of the bridge, making it very difficult for drivers avoiding vehicles inbound Atan trying to avoid the pothole from crashing into themselves or the canal below.

There’s a need for redesigning and restructuring of the sloppy nature of the roads leading to the bridge.

Aside the high number of trucks crossing the bridge daily, we also have a very high number of Tricycles and Okadas (Motorcycles) jostling for space with heavy duty of vehicles, causing Traffic confusion and eventual bedlam.

We should re-enforce the banning of heavy duty trucks, restricting them to plying the roads only at night times according to extant laws in such regards.